Is Aarti Chhabria of Interest to the NIA?

Bollywood actress Aarti Chhabria, recently seen in Death At A Funeral and Toss, has denied having dated alleged American 26/11 terrorist David Headley after having been introduced to him by Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul. David is currently being held and questioned by America’s FBI. “I stay a few blocks away from Shyam Nivas but I have never met this man Headley,” Aarti says, “I didn’t even known that Rahul Bhatt was working out in the same gymnasium with the man.”

That’s fairly categorical but a source from India’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) suggests that the two met at a party and were frequently seen about town together as well as both being members of the same gym. Although no one is suggesting that Aarti has done anything wrong, Union Home Secretary GK Pillai has suggested she – and possibly other actors – will be questioned by the NIA and Crime Branch in the same way as Rahul, as they may be inadvertently holding useful information. Questions are also being raised as to how far David may have infiltrated Bollywood, if at all.

The NIA are also said to be studying the phone records of Emraan Hashmi, who is Mahesh Bhatt’s nephew, and Soha Ali Khan who are said to have met Headley, who is suspected of having links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, on film sets.